Countrywide in the dock again for ‘conditional selling’ of in-house services
Subsidiary of estate agency giant admits some agents can be ‘over-exuberant’ and ‘push too hard on in house sales’.
Countrywide’s group legal consultant has admitted that the firm is often caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to conditional selling for fear of falling foul of The Property Ombudsman.
Countrywide is thought to be the UK’s largest mortgage intermediary with over 500 brokers and is part of estate agency giant Connells.
It employs in-house brokers, conveyancers, and surveyors across Connells, Countrywide and Sequence branches.
OVER-EXUBERANT
Trade title FT Adviser reported that on a policy call last month legal consultant Peter Speak admitted some staff are “perhaps over-exuberant” and “push too hard” on in-house services.
But he claimed mandatory appointments with in-house brokers to perform anti-money laundering (AML) checks were often misconstrued that the buyer had to use in-house services.
As a business if we don’t do it we are castigated.”
FT Adviser reports Speak saying: “As a business, if we don’t do it [set up in-house broker appointments], and then later on there’s a complaint from the vendor because the sale falls through because financially they weren’t able to buy it, then we are castigated by the [Property] Ombudsman for having not done that. So we’re twixxed in between.”
Earlier this year The Neg reported that Connells had begun an internal investigation after several independent mortgage brokers accused branch staff of taking part in ‘conditional selling’ when buyers are told their offers will only be forwarded to a vendor if they use one of the estate agency’s services.
At the time Connells said this was not company policy and any breaches would be investigated with any necessary action taken. That investigation is thought to be still ongoing.
Countrywide comment
A spokesperson for Countrywide told The Neg: “In accordance with our obligation to the vendor, it is right that we should make reasonable enquiries to qualify prospective buyers and whether financials are in place to complete a sale.
“Countrywide’s in-house mortgage services are entirely optional and have no bearing whatsoever on a buyer’s ability to secure a property through one of our branches, and any breach of company policy will be investigated.”
“Countrywide’s in-house mortgage services are entirely optional and have no bearing whatsoever on a buyer’s ability to secure a property through one of our branches, and any breach of company policy will be investigated.”
Connells, Haart, Bairstow Eves can’t say this… I know there are questionnaires going out to client’s post completion asking if they were mis-sold. PPI moment? Who knows.
When I worked for Sequence ie Connells, we were heavily ‘trained’ to get punters in front of the mortgage advisers and if we didn’t meet our targets we were subjected to extra ‘naughty boy’ training sessions. Our numbers were published in league tables to further humiliate us. If they say they don’t pressure sell mortgage business they are lying. It’s the same with every single Connells/Skipton owned agency. They expect every employee to sell so many ‘add ons’ you feel more like a Betaware salesperson than a property professional!